I'm Your Huckleberry
by murph86
Summary: Some interactions between John Henry "Doc" Holliday and Lydia Monroe, my original character. She's come to town to find her sister's killer but stumbles upon something much bigger. Not entirely sure where this falls in the actual show timeline and it's a little disjointed but thought I'd start posting some pieces.
1. Shoulda Known Better

"Waverly Earp, if anything has happened to my woman I swear I'll make you regret ever bein' born," Doc threatened as he checked his pistol to make sure it was loaded and ready to go.

Wynonna sighed, the look of hurt on her face missed by the fuming gunslinger who was still inspecting his pistol, "Stow it Doc, so _not_ helpful right now." Had he really just said 'my woman'? That was a little unexpected. She'd known that he and Lydia had been friendly but she didn't think it was anything serious. Well, they were just friends anyways so it shouldn't matter to her.

She received a glare for her efforts but it was Dolls who cut off her retort, "Waverly, Wynonna, head through the North side doors. Doc, we'll go in here. Keep it quiet and let's get Lydia out of here in one piece."

Adjusting his hat Doc glanced from the cause of all this trouble to Dolls and nodded his head, "Let's go then, I can't imagine Bobo is in there dancin' a square dance with her."

This had all started because of a hunch Waverly had had. Everyone had ignored her, pushed aside her claims of revenant activity. Well, everyone but Lydia. No, that crazy woman had listened and together the women had decided to check it out for themselves so they would have proof to bring back to Black Badge.

Proof came in the form of a captured Lydia and Waverly barely escaping to tell everyone about it. To say Doc was angry with her was an understatement. They had only just a week ago gotten Lydia back from the great outdoors, she still claimed to have been lost out there but Doc didn't believe that for a moment. Lydia had a great sense of direction and she hadn't been severely hurt so she had no excuse other than she was hiding something. The pair was still arguing over that one, she didn't trust him to not turn around and tell Black Badge about whatever it is she found out there.

As frustrating as that was he couldn't say if he'd report it to Dolls or not, he was hardly an official part of the team but he did work with Dolls and Wynonna on a lot of the revenant activities in Purgatory. He didn't like the demons anymore than they did so what else was he going to do while he went looking for the stone witch? Whatever it was that Lydia had found she was being very tight lipped about it, a fact he both hated and admired. The woman was true to her word and she'd said she'd given it to someone. But who could possibly be hiding out in the woods?

Turning his attention back to the warehouse they were standing outside of he held his guns at the ready, "She better be alive or I'll strangle Waverly myself."

Dolls shook his head, "Relax, Lydia seems like a tough woman and she's put up with you lately so I think she can handle Bobo."

As much as he wanted to go in guns blazing they had no idea what they might find inside. Lydia was a tough woman but Bobo had a century on her and he hadn't been a saint in all that time, there was a reason he was a revenant after all. To say Doc was worried about how Lydia had fared so far was a stretch, he was downright terrified he was going to open this door only to find her dead. The sick feeling in his stomach should have told him about his emotional state if he were paying attention but his mind was too focused on seeing her, knowing for himself she was okay.

And then a scream cut through the night air and Doc couldn't stop himself from rushing through the door ahead of Dolls. There were no revenants waiting which would have seemed odd had he been paying attention.

"Holliday," Dolls hissed as he followed behind. Cursing under his breath Dolls shook his head, love was a stupid thing, made people do stupid things.

Catching up to Doc he grabbed his shoulder to stop him, "Wait. Don't go off the reservation on me now. Keep it together or you aren't going to do her any good."

Doc glared with blazing blue eyes but took a deep breath to calm himself, "That bastard mule is hurting her."

Dolls nodded his head, "Most likely. You can't save her if they put you down with a bullet to the chest before they turn guns on her. Just take a minute to think. Follow my lead and we'll get her out of here, I promise."

They exchanged a look and finally with a heavy sigh Doc conceded Dolls had a point, "Fine, lead on then."

Going forward Dolls led the way, checking his corners and taking his sweet time about it as his training required. Doc on the other hand was sorely tempted to shoot the man in the foot and leave him behind, Lydia didn't have much time if Bobo or some other revenant was torturing her. This situation could have been completely avoided if Lydia had thought to mention her little excursion to him, he would have told her exactly how foolish it was. And... she would have told him to go to hell before going anyways. Doc didn't know what to do with her sometimes.

Turning a corner that let out into open warehouse floor space the pair stopped in their tracks. Doc was rooted to the spot, his stomach dropping out as he saw the scene laid out before him. Bobo Del Rey stood beside Lydia with the biggest grin on his face as he waited for this to all unfold.

Lydia meanwhile was strung up, her wrists shackled above her head which hung forward so they couldn't see her face through the curtain of her red hair. Blood had trickled down her arms from her wrists, the metal shackles, yes honest to goodness shackles, cutting into her skin. Her jeans had once been a blue light wash denim but were now stained with dirt and blood from at least three different cuts across her thighs. The shirt she'd been wearing had been torn completely down the middle to expose her bruising ribs and black bra that was thankfully still intact.

Doc was two seconds from leaving cover when Dolls grabbed his shoulder and shook his head, "He's baiting you. Don't." With a growl Doc was barely able to restrain himself. She was hurt and while it was her own fault for getting into this mess he couldn't help but want to save her from the pain she was in. John Henry Holliday knew he was in serious trouble with this woman as he looked on helplessly. He'd felt it when she'd gone missing before but now… now it was undeniable and right in his face.

"What, pray tell, do you propose to do?"

Dolls looked at the other man for a moment before releasing his hold on him as he considered the options. He couldn't see a good way to go about this. This was a trap, plain and simple.

* * *

"Well, well, well, look what we have here. A dumb ass convention… minus the mass idiots… which makes me wonder where they are hiding," came Wynonna's voice as she looked around while stepping out into the open from the other side of the warehouse, Bobo turning to grin at her.

"Not exactly who I expected to come to the rescue but you'll do, heir."

She snorted, "You should have expected me. You don't get to take… her, one of my people without some consequences."

Bobo continued to grin as he moved to stand behind Lydia, his hands roaming her body which caused her to groan in protest or pain, "Aw, you're going to take away my new toy?"

Wynonna arched a brow, "I would think you can do better than her but hey, whatever floats your ass down the river, man."


	2. Should Known Better Part 2

Doc arched a dark brow at Dolls, "Well that's one way to get his attention. Remind me to thank her for that." He got a look from the Deputy just before they started moving a little closer to the scene. Bobo Del Rey still distracted by Wynonna who was bantering with him as she waved Peacemaker in the air.

"Look Bozo,"

"Bobo."

"Came for the redhead so just hand her over before I send you packing back to hell," she continued as if he hadn't interrupted her.

Running a hand over the shaved part of his head Bobo tipped his head in though, "As much fun as that sounds... I don't think so. She's a part of the team, you can't let her die and I just might decide I'm finished with her."

Puffing out a breath Wynonna thought about that for a moment, her bluster was running a little thin at the moment. As if on cue though Lydia lifted her head, "He wants to-"

She never got to finish as Bobo backhanded her in the face, causing her head to snap back as she groaned in pain. The crazy revenant shook his head as he fisted a hand in her hair to make her look at him again. One finger pressed to her lips, "Shhh, we don't want to spoil the fun now do we?"

Her eyes blazed as she spit blood in his face, "Screw you!"

Slowly opening his eyes Bobo sighed before pulled her head to the side viciously, " _That_ was not polite. I've been the best of hosts, you could show a little gratitude."

"Hey! Focus! Let's get this show on the road, yeah?"

Turning his attention back to Wynonna he grinned, "If that's what you want, I wouldn't want to disappoint."

Faster than any of them could have anticipated Bobo used his ability to manipulate metal, suddenly there was a knife in his hand and he held it to Lydia's throat, "Would you like to see how fast she can bleed out?"

"BOBO DEL REY!"

The malicious smile that spread across the revenant's face sent a chill through Wynonna, "Now it's about to get really interesting."

"If you shoot me Holliday, I might slit your pretty girlfriend's throat. I don't know why she puts up with you but it would appear she's got a soft spot for you," he said over his shoulder without turning away from Wynonna. While Doc's pistol would hurt him it wouldn't put him down for the count. Peacemaker however would so he continued to keep one eye on Wynonna, Waverly hovering behind her with shot gun in hand.

"Let her go, Del Rey," Doc said, pistol trained on the back of his head. It wouldn't really kill him but it would still be satisfying to see his brain splatter.

Still grinning Bobo turned enough so he could more or less see both Wynonna and Doc if he was careful, "Oh, I don't know. She's been fun. Not as much fun as her sister but I've enjoyed myself."

Lydia struggled against him as a hand roamed her body again as he spoke, trying to goad Doc obviously. The bite of the knife caused her to stop, he wasn't trying to cut her throat just yet but there was just enough pressure she'd cut herself on the damn thing. She felt a trickle of warm blood travel across her skin, "Damn you."

"They have no idea what you are do they?"

Surprised Doc gave a confused look to Dolls before his attention went back to Bobo, "I'm about to use your head as target practice, you best let her go."

Bobo pressed his face against the side of Lydia's and spoke loud enough everyone could hear him, "They don't know you were just like your sister, you can see the same things. You see my true face don't you. Why don't you tell them the truth?"

Trying to pull away from him only caused the blade at her throat to dig a little deeper and she hissed in pain, "Shut up. You can't win here. Even if you kill me before Earp shoots you in the face you still lose."

" _Soo_ ready to join your sister," he said against her ear but loud enough for everyone to hear. "Such a pity. I bet you could be just as useful as she was. Why do you hide it?"

Tensing Lydia's eyes went to Doc as the words left Bobo's mouth. She hadn't told them she was like her sister in that she could also see things normal people couldn't, ghosts and what not. She'd worked so hard all her life to avoid being labeled insane like Penny had been. It had been hard to hid the fact that she was a twin, the first revenant they'd run into had been confused to say the least. Bobo had known her sister was a twin but he hadn't known if they shared the gift, not until now at least.

Only recently had the team figured out why the revenants had had an interest in her sister in the first place. Penny had fallen in love supposedly with a revenant she'd met online somewhere, surprisingly they could use the internet just like anyone else. She'd been lured out here to the Ghost Triangle on the promise of finding people who accepted her, people who wouldn't laugh at her for her differences. And then they used her before killing her, though from what Lydia had learned that had been an accident. The revenant who'd claimed to have loved Penny still felt like he was in love with her and had confessed to Lydia what had really happened.

Lowering his voice so only she could hear him Bobo grinned against her ear, "I'm going to let you live. I have something I need from you, now isn't the time."

He turned his attention to the group around them and lifted Lydia with am arm around her middle, causing her to groan as he squeezed her. The chains attached to her wrists were suspended from a hook above her head and his action released her though Lydia wasn't ready to hold her own weight and couldn't stop herself from leaning into the bastard. "Not that this hasn't been fun and all but I think I'll take my leave. Now be good little friends and don't follow, I'll drop her as soon as I get to the door."

Backing away Bobo pulled Lydia with him. Doc moved forward quickly which only caused Bobo to press the knife to her throat a little harder, causing Lydia to gasp in pain, "Ah ah, Holliday. Don't make me cut her throat. One more dead psychic isn't much to me."

Doc stopped in his tracks and watched helplessly, his blue eyes fixed on the blood trickling down Lydia's throat. For a moment he didn't process what Bobo had said but it settled on him after a moment, "Psychic?"

Bobo laughed as he continued to move back away from them, "You have a lot of explaining to do I think, sweetheart." Having reached the door Bobo paused to open it, turned his face to lick her from her jaw to her hairline and then pushed her away before turning to disappear out the door. He went so far as the drag his knife across her skin a little harder just for good measure, marking her most likely.

There was a lot of cursing as Doc tried to hurry forward to catch Lydia, blocking the door as both Dolls and Wynonna tried to get through. After a moment Dolls managed to push passed them and speed outside only to see that Bobo had ducked into another building or something because he was gone already. Swearing he turned his eyes towards the sky for a moment.

Aching from head to toe Lydia avoided Doc's eyes as he knelt beside her, sliding his pistol back into it's holster, "Are you alright, Lydia?"

Was she? Ha, she had no idea at the moment. Lydia nodded her head a little even as Doc was yanking a handkerchief out of his pocket to press to her bleeding throat. She hissed in pain, apparently she was cut deeper than she though going off the look on Doc's face.

"I'll kill him, I swear I'll kill that bastard."

With half a grin Lydia finally looked up at him, "Get in line old man."

Surprised by the comment Doc looked from her cut to her eyes and his look softened, "Jesus Lydia, what were you thinking? This was madness."

Leaning into him she sighed, she should have listened but Waverly had been sure there was something going on in this warehouse. Unfortunately, when they'd been found it had given the revenants time to clear out whatever evil they'd been planning here.


	3. I See Dead People

Sitting in her hotel room, bandages around her throat and a few other places she'd been cut, Lydia looked across the room at Doc who was leaning against the far wall. Feet crossed at the ankles he leaned back in a very casual manner but it was obvious to Lydia he wasn't as relaxed as he was trying to make her believe.

"Just ask whatever you are going to ask Doc," she finally said, a little horse from not speaking lately. The cut to her throat hadn't been too bad but it hurt to talk and despite everyone having questions she'd avoided most of them. Until now, now she wanted to tell Holliday whatever he wanted to know.

Pushing his hat back a little he looked across the room at her, unsure if he wanted to bed her or strangle her. He'd kept his distance the last couple days, too frustrated with her to trust himself around her just now. He'd checked on her at the hospital but otherwise been distant. Blue eyes burned with questions and if Lydia wasn't completely off the mark, hurt.

She and Doc had been close lately, closer than she'd thought she'd ever get with anyone honestly. What had started out as a one night stand and then some playful companionship had turned to something else entirely. Lydia had followed her sister's trail here and had been focused on finding her but in the process she'd gotten tangled up with Doc Holliday, _the freakin'_ John Henry Holliday which had been a hard pill to swallow. There was just too much about him that didn't fit in this time, too much that lined up with all the tails about Doc Holliday. She's grown up a western brat with idols like Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, and so many other great gunslingers. To come face to face with Holliday had been tough but she'd gotten over the shock quick enough.

"I just want to know what he meant, psychic?"

With a heavy sigh Lydia sat up a little more on the bed as she thought of the best way to explain this. She hadn't exactly lied to him ever, she just hadn't told him she could see things like her sister had been able to. It was how Lydia had known he wasn't lying when he told her who he really was though that had been pure coincidence at the time.

"First you should understand that I was afraid to say anything. I've spent my entire life hiding what I can see, the things I can feel that other's can't. I'm not sure I would say psychic but that's a small part of it, some times. Penny... Penny didn't hide it and they told her over and over again she was crazy. She was hospitalized for most of her life, I didn't want that to be me too and it broke her heart that I didn't admit to the same things. But I was hospitalized once when we were little, they separated us, and it was the worst thing. After that I started denying I could see anything and I was let out... Penny wasn't," she said softly as she played with the edge of the sheet beside her.

Doc stood quietly for a moment, "What is it you see?"

For a moment she had to think about that, how did she best explain what she could see? "Ghosts... I can see... the revenant's true faces even when they are hiding them from everyone else. Some times it's an aura thing but that one is hit or miss. It's never something I've explored so I'm not entirely sure the full extent of this curse."

Arching a brow Doc hooked a thumb in a belt loop as he looked at her, "A curse?"

Lydia shook her head, "You don't get it Holliday. My sister was institutionalized for most of her life. These things are not nice things, seeing dead people or other... things. I don't even have names for some of the stuff I've seen. Penny saw far more, she tried to figure out where this came from because neither of our parents believed us so they don't have it. I... I saw what they did to Penny and started denying I saw anything, it broke her heart. I left her alone."

Fighting back tears Lydia looked away from him but he saw the pain all the same. It was that which finally softened Doc's demeanor and brought him across the room. He sat on the edge of the bed, "Lydia. I can understanding keeping it to yourself but when the revenants recognized you might have been a good time to say something, anything."

She sighed softly, "You don't think I wanted to? When they thought I was Penny I realized why they had really brought her here. I also have heard you talk about Black Badge collecting specimen, unique beings. Thanks but no thanks, I don't want to be taken to a lab to be poked and prodded until I die."

"Well you have a point there, we found out Black Badge does have a penchant for such activities," he finally admitted. It didn't lessen the unease he was feeling about all this and what he'd realized he felt towards Lydia. She was more than just a passing fancy, he just hadn't known it until there was serious threat that might take her out of his life permanently.

Doc sighed as he reached out to brush his fingers against her cheek, "What ever possessed you to go into that warehouse in the first place? Waverly and you should know better than that."

"When everyone was ignoring Waverly and she was about to go with or without someone as back up? I was trying to be supportive, Waverly had been nothing but nice to me since I showed up. Wynonna hates me for obvious reasons, Dolls could care less so long as I'm not in the way, but she's been super nice and I know it's just her nature but it's down right delightful for someone to be genuinely kind," she said a little more sternly than she meant to.

Frowning Doc pulled his hat off his head and ran his fingers through his thick black hair, "Ah darlin', I know it ain't been easy for you here but it can't be that bad is it?"

She shook her head, "No, it hasn't been too bad but Waverly needed someone to listen to her and she had more than just a hunch. She was right. Getting caught worked against us but she was right all the same."

"How did that happen anyways, I've seen you in the moment before and you usually handle yourself very well," he said with a grin.

Lydia grinned back at him and rolled her eyes a little, "you'll just be more upset with Waverly. She told me you were pretty pissed at her for all this. You should probably apologize to her."

Snorting Doc tossed his hat in a chair sitting nearby, "Not on a cold day in hell sweetheart. Waverly shouldn't have gotten you into this mess."

"Hey, she didn't get me into anything. I went open eyed and willingly. You should know I don't do things if I don't want to, Holliday," she said as she gave him a sassy look.

He held up a hand and chuckled, "Alright, cease fire. I doubt an apology is on the horizon but you do make a good point." He paused to look at her for a long moment, his features softening as his blue eyes took in the bandages around her throat, "How are you doing by the by."

With a soft sigh Lydia leaned back against her propped up pillows, "I'll survive. None of the cuts were too bad, some stitches here and there but nothing that won't heal with some time."

Brushing his fingers over his mustache Doc let his eyes settle on her face, "You had me worried, cher." He couldn't stop himself from seeing her chained up, bleeding. "I don't ever wanna see you like that again, not ever do you hear me."

Lydia motioned him closer and wasn't surprised when he hesitated, "Come here Doc, you won't hurt me and I could use a hug right about now."

"I'll do more'n hug you woman, just don't want to cause you more pain," he said as he moved to sit beside her so he could lean his back against the headboard. Lydia immediately turned into him and snuggled up to him as he wrapped an arm around her carefully. Doc had never really been a cuddler but she seemed to insist on such things sometimes and he had to admit, begrudgingly, it was pleasant to say the least.


End file.
